Background - My wife and I are in our mid-forties with two boys ages 11 and 6. We are RCCL Diamond members and have taken 8 cruises with the line. This was our 16th cruise overall and our second Maiden Voyage (First one was Queen Victoria in Dec. 2007). RCCL has been our favorite line due to the large passenger demographic and their focus on family cruising. We booked this one in May 2009 and received two upgrades from the line. We originally had an inside and wound up with a D2 Superior Ocean View Balcony amidships. This cruise had 4,800 guests which was short of capacity by 1,500 guests. RCCL said this was by design for the first cruise. They are getting a premium cruise rate for this ship, so expectations are high.

Embarkation - A breeze. The new ship terminal (Terminal 18) built for Oasis is huge and can easily handle the passenger load. I was suspicious when RCCL announced that this terminal will allow passengers to go from the curb to ship in 15 minutes. We did it in 10 minutes. WOW!!

Accommodations - The room was a good size and the storage space was adequate. The bed is too close to the closet and blocks some of the storage space. RCCL needs to address this on Allure of the Seas. The balcony was 40 sq.ft and had a nice view of the ocean. The bathroom was bigger than I expected and met all of our needs. Read more